Chandigarh, August 21, 2024 (Yes Punjab News)
Amidst the ongoing drive to make Punjab a safe and secure state as per directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Punjab Police’s Cyber Crime Division has busted an inter-state gang involved in Cyber Financial frauds with the arrest of three Cybercrime criminals from different districts of the West Bengal, said ADGP Cyber Crime Division V Neeraja here on Wednesday.
Those arrested have been identified as Shovon Saha, Abishek Kumar Singh and Parveen Kumar Rai. Police teams have also recovered three mobile phones, one laptop and Rs 30,900 from their possession.
As per the information, the Punjab State Cyber Crime Division had received a complaint regarding cyber fraud of Rs 49.60 lakhs, wherein the cyber fraudster sent a WhatsApp message to the accountant of the company by using display picture of owner, who is a Mohali-based Realtor.
As the latter was unavailable to verify if the message was genuine, as he was in a meeting, the employee assumed the message to be from the owner the company and transferred the money into the Bank account given by the fraudster.
ADGP V Neeraja said that of the three arrested accused persons, two of them were employees of Flipkart, who have rented their bank accounts to cyber fraudsters for a commission.
“Another important suspect identified as Md Delowar Gazi was traced but he suffered multiple injuries after a fall, and was not in a position to travel. The latter joined the investigation and had revealed the names of other members of the gang,” she said.
The ADGP said that an amount of Rs 5,22,700 has been put on lien from third to ninth layer in 44 different bank accounts with the efforts of the Helpline 1930 team. Further, investigation of the case is in progress to unearth the network of cyber criminals in this case and more arrests are expected, she added.
Sharing operation details, SP State Cybercrime Division Jashandeep Singh Gill said that the matter was reported at the State Cybercrime after lapse of 12 hours and after reporting on NCRPortal, investigation was started by the Police Station State Cybercrime Division, Mohali.
He said that information was obtained regarding WhatsApp account, bank accounts and mobile numbers used by Cyber fraudsters, which were scrutinised and it was found that the amount in the first and second layer was transferred to Bank account holders from West Bengal.
Thereafter, Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) help was sought for co-ordination with Joint Cybercrime Coordination Teams (JCCT) West Bengal and a police team headed by Inspector Gaganpreet Singh and Inspector Deepak Bhatia left for Kolkata immediately, said the SP, while adding that with the help of multiple Open source intelligence (OSINT) techniques and help from nodal officers of Bank, the whereabouts of the accused persons in first and second layer were identified and arrested.
He said preliminary investigations have revealed that the fraudsters transferred the amount to 150 bank accounts in 9 layers and lien has been marked in 44 accounts.
A case FIR no. 21 dated 01/08/2024 was registered under sections 318, 319 and 61 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and sections 66-C and 66-D of the IT Act at Police Station State Cyber Crime SAS Nagar.
Meanwhile, earnest efforts are being made by Cyber Crime Division of Punjab in nabbing cybercriminals operating from other States. During last two months, as many as 100 cases were registered in the Cybercrime Police Stations in all the 28 police districts in the state and an amount of Rs 23.46 crores of money of victims of cyber fraud was lien marked in the accounts of suspects
Precautions to be taken by Citizens while using online services:
1. Always verify the actual users of social media intermediary before making any transaction
2. Always verify the account holders in which amount is to be deposited
3. Never make online payment to anyone in lure of bigger return
4. Avoid clicking on links or downloading files from unknown sources
5. Never share Debit/Credit Card or Bank details on any application
6. Never click on links offering discounts and prizes
7. Use a unique password for each account and change it frequently
8. Most important, in case fallen prey to online fraud , time is precious , immediately report on Helpline 1930 or on www.cybercrime.gov.in to save the money from going to the cyber fraudsters.
